Coming together to serve the community

Famous British statesman Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

And taking a cue from the same is the "Clap for Cause" – a group constituted by eight strong and inspiring Kiwi Indian women who came together in January 2021 to spend some time every month with one other and with the community.

The group comprises professional women from diverse fields who want to do their bit for the community and society.

The members are Sreesutha Nampally (Processing Officer at Ministry); Lavanya Komal (Key Accounts & Data Analyst in FMCG industry); Siri Koripa (Credit Manager at Häfele New Zealand Limited); Sreekala Srihari

(Shipping Line CS Officer), Sujala Tiyyagura (Regional Lead Supported Housing at Kainga Ora - Homes and Communities); Neha Patidar (QA Manager at Fiserv Ltd), Kalyani Atmala (QA Test Analyst at Fidelity Life Assurance Company Ltd), and Sheethal Allam (Team Leader at Genesis Energy).

Sheethal, the 39-year-old mother of two who hails from Hyderabad, says, "The idea behind the group was to do something for the community. The group intends to meet every month and do a community activity together. The member herself chose the activity according to her passion.

"Since we all get so busy with our lives and work, the group started with the thought of spending some time with this bunch of like-minded friends to live life with fun and laughter at least for a few hours every month as a stress buster and fortunately, just in no time, this thought turned out to be a great idea of doing some awesome service while we are together. I can't tell you the satisfaction that we all get when giving back to the community."

Another member and one of the founders, Sreesutha Nampally, says the shared passion for giving back to the community brought these ladies together. "Most of us have been involved directly or indirectly in social or community work for last many years. So, this common quality among us and the passion for doing something for our society and nature apart from our personal and work lives brought us all together feel motivated to join hands to move forward with strong positive intentions. Since we are together, we feel even stronger."

Interestingly, the group has so far done many community activities including mask donation; planting at Western Springs along with Conservation Volunteers New Zealand; beach clean up at Mission Bay, Auckland; weeding and prepping for winter plantation around Earth Day 2021; packing lunches for school kids at Auckland CBD Eat My Lunch and Langar Seva at Gurudwara Sahib Takanini. Due to the lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions in place in Auckland since August, the group has not been able to do the community activities monthly. However, since now things are better, the group hopes to resume doing their monthly community activity.

"Though this Covid lockdown did put a break on put plans, we are so happy to share that this coming Saturday 18 December, we are resuming our activities by giving a food hamper along with some household essential goodies hamper to some needy people with the Help of Salvation Army. Hoping that we can bring a smile to their faces this Xmas with this small gesture," reveals Sheethal.

The group has got an overwhelming response from the community, with many wanting to join and contribute. "We feel so proud and thankful to our families, friends, and community members who have given and still giving us so much love and energy to continue our journey. In fact, so many people have already expressed their interest in joining us in the ‘Clap for Cause’ service-oriented activities. Some have already been part of us, which means it inspires others to make some difference in our society, and this is where we get inspiration to inspire others," signs off Sreesutha.